Clothes-drying rack.



Patented Feb. 5, l90l.

c. & ST. HILAIRE, CLOTHES DRYING RAGK.

(Application filed Oct. 4, 1899,

2' Sheets-Sheet l.

(Nu Iodal.)

make and use the same.

CAMILLE ST.[H ILAIRE,

or 'KANKAKEn'fmLiNois.

oLoT se-iosvm eYeA'e SPEGIFIGATIONfQrming pm of Letters ma No. tems,datediFehruary 5, 190 1. f

- Application filed October- 4, Serial l lo 782,4?31. (N model.) I I Toall whom it may concern: v

Be it known that we, CAMILLE ST. HILAIRE, r siding atWilson, in thecounty of Menominee and State of Michigan, and JOSEPH ST. HILAIBE,residing at Kankakee, in the county of Kankakee and State of Illinois,citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Clothes-Drying Racks; and we do'hereby declare thefollowing' to be a;ful1, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains toThe objects of our-invention. are to provide a clothes-drying rack whichshall be cheap of manufacture, simple of construction, which may be;attached permanently in place, and

which-shall be so constructed as to occupy but a small spacewhen not inuse; and with l 56 tauces similar to the rungsof aladder, form theseobjects in view we have devised an articleof this nature such as isdescribed in the specification and shown in the accompanying drawings,in which like characters of reference'iudicate similar parts of theseveral views, in 'which Figural is a perspective view showing our Iinvention in place and ready for use. Fig. 2

is a rear view of our invention whenou t of use.- Fig. 3 is an end viewwith a portion removed. Fig. 4 is a detail view, and Fig. 5 is a detailview showing the arrangement of the tflhth upon the ratchet-wheels used.in our invention.

In. the manufacture of a device in accord-I ance with our invention weprovide a main support a, to which is pivoted a supplemental support!)by means of a thumb-screw c,which may be tightened to prevent therotation of the last-named support. 'Secured'to the endsof thesupplementalsupport'b are depending transverse strips 2', of wood orother suitable; material, the strips being spaced at equal dis? ing aclothes -drying'rack. To the outermost of the transverse strips ii's-attached a chain orother suitable suspending means. Rigid'ly securedto one end of the shaft fare two ratchet-wheelsj andk, having-inclinedprojections, the projections of oneof the wheels being inclined in theopposite'direction to those of-the other of said wheels.

Pivoted to the and eat a point directly 6o above the shaft f is aleverl, havingfing'ers m and n-extending downwardly'therefrom, thefinger n beingturned from the plane of the'lever Z and adapted to engagethe projecand 0, and loosely secured to the hail'o and Y tions'of thewheel j, and the finger m being turned in the opposite directionandadapted to engage the projections ofthe wheel 7a.. Se-

adapted to rest ineither oftheserecesses is aweight p, the use of whichwill be hereinafterexplained. v v

Mountednpon-the shaftf at-the end opposite the wheels j audit is aspur-Wheel r in e'ngagemen 'tv with a second spur-wheel 7', which ispivoted to the arm 01 and which is mounted on a shaft extending. throughthe arm and terminating at a yoke s, ,which is at,-

tached to theouter face of the arm i at its ends and which incloses aspring t, having its outer end connected to the said yoke and having itsinnerend secured t0 the shaft of v I the wheel r H p p ,lBearing-pla'tesu and. v are secured to the inner faces of the arms d ande, the forme'r to receive one end of the shaft f and the shaft pivot ofthe lever Z. The bearing-plate u is buthaving a perforation-f3 toreceive a pin L centend ofthe section 1.- 1 A semicircularrecessisformedi'n the meeting edges; of the sections 1 and-2 'to receive theend of the of thewheelr the latter to receive the or wILsonM ggIeARnnosaBesmhILninE, a.

for holdingtit inafixed,positiomwith its: a; permost end in engagementWith"the.-ad;ja

shaft fiand it willbe 'see'n'that tithenitisdesirable' to remove thisshaft f rom the frame zoo it will be necessary but to swing section 2 onits pivot 2, which, will permit of the removal of the shaft.

Our invention is preferably secured to the ceiling of a room; but itmaybe securedwherever convenient, and its operation is as and as therack revolves the spur-wheel a" is rotated, carrying with it its shaft,owing to its engagement with the wheel r, and as this action takes place.the spring t is wound up and tends to rewind the clothes-drying rackwhen the latter is released. To prevent the rewinding of the,ra ck-, thefinger n of the lever Z is brought into engagement with one of theprojections or teeth of the wheel j, in which position it-is' held bymeans of the weight'p, which is placed in the recess 0. When asuflicient amount of the clothes-drying rack has been drawn from thereel or shaftf, it is secured at a distant point by means of a suitablecord 3, which may be attached to the' suspending means at the end of therack, passed through the screw eye or pulley 4, placed for this purpose,and secured within easy reach. The clothes are then placed upon therack, and if it is found that they are of such weight as to cause anadditional portion of the rack to unwind from the reel the weight p isplaced in the recess m, which will cause the finger m to engage theteeth of the wheel 7c and preventits rotation. When our invention is notinuse, the weight is suspended from the recessn, and when the weight isin this position both of the fingers m and n are disengaged from thewheels j and is. When the clothes are dried, they are removed fromthoracic and the cord 3 is loosened, the weight p is placed in therecess n, and the rack allowed to rewind itself upon the shaftf bythetension of the spring 15.

A catch 5 is pivoted to the support 2) and adapted to engage the teethofthe wheel 1". It should be placed-in this position when, the.

shaftf is removed from the frame to prevent reaction of the spring t,which might result disastrouslyto the mechanism.

Our invention may be made of any conven- "ient material, and itsconstruction may be 'modified to a certain extent without depart-" .ingfrom the spirit of ourinve'ntion. Among other alterations wheels j and kmay be formed integrally as a single wheel with a double fiapge' insteadof as above described.

Having thus described purinvention, what we, claim is'- 1. Aclothes-drying rack comprising a sup port, a reel, mounted upon saidsupport, a

- spring adapted to be wound b'ythe revolution of the reel,ratchet-wheels secured to one end of the reel, the teeth of onewheelbeing turned.-

in the opposite direction to 'the teeth of the other wheel, a catchadapted to engage each wheel alternately, means for holding said catchin engagement with either or out of engagement with both of said wheels,and a flexible frame mounted upon the'reel-.'

2,. A clothes-drying rack comprising asupport, a 'reel mounted upon saidsupport, a spring adapted to be wound by the revolution of the reel,ratchet-wheels secured to one end of the reel, the teeth, of one wheelbeing turned in the opposite direction to the teeth of the other wheel,a catch adapted to engage each wheel alternately, means for holding saidcatch in engagement with either or out of engagement with both of saidwheelsand a flexible frame mounted upon the reel, said frame comprisingflexible longitudinal strips'and.

rigid transverse strips.

3. A clothes-drying rack comprising-a sup port, a supplemental supportpivoted to the first-named support, arms depending from the supplementalsupport, a reel journaled between the arms, a flexible frame secured tothe reel and adapted to wind thereupon, a;

spring mounted at one end of the supplemental support and having one endattached thereto, a gear-wheel having connection with the opposite-endof the spring, a gear-wheel,

mounted upon one end of the reel and adapted to mesh with thefirst-named gea'rwheel, ratchet-wheels mounted upon the opposite end ofthe reel, a catch in engagement with the ratchet-wheels, a bail securedto the catch and a weight loosely mounted upon thebail for throwing thecatch into or out of engage ment with the ratchet-wheels.

4. A clothes-drying rack comprising asupf port, a'supplemental sn pportpivoted thereto,

port, bearingplates attached to the inner. faces of the arms, one ofsaidplates being divided to form two members; one of.said mem' bersbeing pivoted, the other being stationary,

arms depending from thesupplemen'tal sup-1 IIO a reel journaled in thebearing-plates,a frame 6. mounted upon the reel, said frame comprise ingflexible strips having transverse slats conknectingthe strips, agear-wheel secured to.

one end-of the reel, a second-nan1ed gear+ wheel mountedadj acent thefirst-named gearwheel and adapted to mesh therewith, a spring having oneend attached-to the super plemental frame and t-heother end havingooneeotion with the second gear-wheel, whereby v said spring will be woundby revolution of the reel, ratchet wheels mounted upon the reel anda-catch adapted to engage the ratchet fwheelsr 5, A clothes-drying rackcomprising asta tionary support, a supplemental support piv.

oted to the stationary support, arms depend-- ing from the supplementalsupport, a reelmounted between the depending arms, a

spring adapted to be wound, byfithe revolu-.

tion of'the reel, ratchet-wh eels secured to one end-of the reel,-the-teeth of;one wheel being: turned in th'efopposite directiontotheteeth' of the other wheel, a catch adapted to engage each wheelalternately,- means for holding said catch'in engagement with both ofsaid wheels and a flexible frame mounted upon the reel.-

6. A clothes-drying rack,comprisin'ga stationary support, a supplementalsupport pivoted to the stationary support, arms depending from thesupplemental support, a reelmounted between the depending arms, a springadapted to be wound by the revolution of the reel, ratchet-wheelssecured to one end of the reel, a rocking lever pivoted to one end ofthe supplemental frame adjacent the ratchet-wheels; a catch formed uponeach end of the rocking-loner, a bail secured to said 1ever,'aweight-supported by the bail to hold the catches on the lever into orout of engagement with the ratchet-wheels, and corrugations formed uponthe bail, for holding th weight in a' fixed position. I

In testimony whereof We affix our signa- 2

